Saturday, December 22, 2012

"America's Best Boat of the Year"
The J/70 one-design speedster was introduced to critical acclaim in March 2012 and has rapidly taken the world by storm with over 300 boats sold in over 15 countries-- it's the fastest growing one-design sportboat ever. Such remarkable success is a tribute to the entire team, including CCF Composites in Bristol, Rhode Island (the USA builder) and suppliers like Harken, Southern Spars, Marlow, various sailmakers (Doyle, North, Quantum, Ullman, to name a few) and the entire J/Dealer network worldwide.

"A European Sensation"
J//70 started sailing in Europe mid-summer 2012 wth first deliveries from JB Composites in Les Sables des' Olonne taking place in July. Since then the fall/ winter boatshows are generating extraordinary enthusiasm across the European Continent as well as in the United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa and South America. Plus, J/70 is a "European Yacht of the Year 2013 Nominee" in the Performance Boat Category!

Doyle Sailmakers one-design team from Clearwater/ Marblehead (Robbie Doyle, Mark Ploch, Juddie Smith, Greg Marie) had their sailors doing two boat sail testing on Western Long Island Sound in preparation for Key West Race Week.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbY17KB1z2Y

The Seattle gang are having fun, too, and have posted a few videos worth
watching. Here's their description of their J/70 sailing experiences:
"These were taken (with a GoPro) from this past weekend’s PSSC up in
Seattle, where surprisingly enough we actually had some fairly serious
winds; at least we did on Saturday. This is our downwind leg, we set a
new personal speed record of 16.1 on this leg!!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW0vnVxJOCk

Thursday, December 20, 2012

(St Thomas, USVI)- The St. Thomas Yacht Club and the VirginIslands
Sailing Association again hosted yet another fabulous regatta on the
Charlotte Amalie harbor waterfront using their unique J/24s (modified
and call IC-24s). With the courses set less than 50 yards from the
shore, spectators had fantastic views of the action and the sailors. The
event offers both an open division and a woman’s division that provides
for great sailing and even better prospects for after race
entertainment. The rum and tequila drinks are all “free” as are many
meals. The “reggae” music starts right after the de–briefs as does the
dancing.

Sailing fast, furious and smart was long-time J/22 and J/24 sailor Sally
Barkow from Wisconsin, playing the "comeback kid" role and taking the
regatta from her mentor/coach, David Perry 3-0 (yes, three-zip!) in the
finals! Barkow, who has raced this regatta four times, took second last
year after a narrow defeat by Finland’s Staphan Lindberg. That defeat
made this year’s win for Barkow and her crew – Annie Lush, Alana
O’Reilly, Erik Champaign and Maggie Shea – all the sweeter.

“We worked hard as a team in these last few days and it paid off,” says
Barkow, who is ranked 6th in the Women’s and 31st in the Open match race
ranking’s divisions as of December 5, 2012. Barkow was awarded a
distinctive Ulysse Nardin precision timepiece for her win.

A
rain squall blowing across the Charlotte Amalie harbor just minutes
before the start of the Finals left light and shifty conditions in its
wake. This didn’t deter Barkow who handily won the first two matches
against Perry. In what proved the final match of the Finals, Barkow
lead at the start and stretched her advantage to 8 boat lengths by the
windward mark. She lengthened her frontrunner position into a commanding
10 to 12 boat lengths by the finish even though her team battled
through a kink in the spinnaker that cost them a few seconds in boat
speed in the last downwind run.

“It was so shifty,” says Barkow. “It was easy to get it either so right
or so wrong.” This match-up of teams in the Finals was an interesting
one as Perry, who is the author of Understanding the Racing Rules of
Sailing 2009-2012, has served as Barkow’s match racing coach. And,
Perry has also sailed J/22s and J/24s, amongst many other J's for well
over 30 years himself.

“For me it was a win-win,” says Perry of his team’s second place finish
and his student’s first. “Sally’s team is really good and they have
evolved their game well. I was impatient. I had some advantages and gave
them away. This either put me behind or put me further behind and Sally
took advantage of that.”

Two past America’s Cup skippers and also long-time J/22 and J/24 sailors
went head-to-head in the Petite Finals. Ultimately, the USVI’s Peter
Holmberg won 2-1 over the USA’s Dave Dellenbaugh. Thus, Holmberg
finished third and Dellenbaugh fourth in the final standings. Holmberg
won this event in 2009. Another Wisconsin girl and now coach at the
Chicago Match Race Center was Sally's close friend Stephanie Roble,
sailing a strong series herself to finish just out of the running in
seventh overall. Sailing photo credits- Dean Barnes For more Carlos Aguilar sailing information and results.

(Santander, Spain)- Ignacio Camino's NEXTEL ENGINEERING was the winner
of this year's Trofeo AVIA sailed in J/80s on the waters of Santander
Bay. The wind was a the real "star" of the event as for two days the
wind saw gusts over 30 kts at the start of the races. Going to windward
after the starts was a test of seamanship, steering and basic
sail-trim. Going downwind was even a greater test as some crews
experienced some pretty remarkable broaches.

On both days, the Race Committee PRO had to change race course area
after the first race, taking the fleet inside the "sand spit" into the
area of ​​Quebrantas and could fit a smaller, protected course in the
vicinity of the island of Horadada.

Jaime Piris on FONESTAR opted for the pin end start and stretched to the
left side where the influence of the current tide was lower, in
addition to benefiting from the greater wind pressure that came from the
west. On the other side of the course going up the right hand side
were ECC VIVIENDAS sailed by Pichu Torcida, GO FIT skippered by David
Madrazo and Ignacio Camino on NEXTEL. Although they finished behind
FONESTAR, they did not fare well on the right due to less wind pressure
and were sailing against stronger current.

After several more races, it became quite obvious to the sailors that
the left hand side of the course was paying off upwind while the right
hand side (left going downwind) was much faster going downwind under
spinnaker.

It was a good afternoon of sailing for the favorites NEXTEL, ECC and GO
FIT, which never finished below the top five. In the end, Camino won on
NEXTEL with just 9 pts followed by Madrazo on GO FIT in second place
with 13 pts, narrowly beating out Luis Prieto sailing MAQUECHE who had
14 pts for third place. The balance of the top five were comprised of
Pichu's team on ECC VIVIENDAS in fourth with 15 pts and in fifth was
YATES & COSAS. The Class B champion was A&G Private Banking
sailed by Tono Ribalaygua. For more J/80 Santander Trofeo Avia sailing information

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

(Hobart, Tasmania)- A powerful, hot and smokey northerly wind, bringing
heatwave conditions to Hobart, sent the fleet 'smokin' down the Derwent
in today's final pre-Christmas Combined Clubs harbour racing series.

The temperature in Hobart peaked at 33 degrees, the north to
north-westerly wind averaged 25 knots, gusting to more than 30 knots and
more as it funnelled down the river below the Tasman Bridge.

The wooden mast of the 77 year old Derwent class yacht Gnome broke under
the pressure and the gusty wind saw some spectacular broaches under
spinnaker, including the Farr 40 and a large sportboat that was forced
to retire after a mid-river broach as she planed downwind. The strong
breeze contributed to some last day changes in the final point scores
for the Combined Clubs pre-Christmas harbour series.

Group
1 ended with three different winners of each of the three handicap
categories after two final windward/leeward races today. Nevertheless,
the solid, fast J/35 MEM, skippered by Paul Boutchard, finished with a
2nd and a 4th to win the PHS category with a record of
1-8-1-1-3-3-2-2-4-2 for a net 15 points, ahead of Don Calvert's Castro
40, Intrigue, on 22 points and Darren Clark's Farr 1104, Invincible, on
28 points. The wins by Paul Bouthard’s J/35 under PHS handicaps was the
stand-out performance in the handicap divisions.

The J/35 MEM will always be remembered as the yacht owned by then
Sydney-based yachtsman, John Quinn, from which he was tossed overboard
when huge waves engulfed the boat in the Tasman Sea during the 1993
Sydney Hobart Race.

Quinn courageously dog-paddled for just short of six hours before being
unbelievably heard by a crew member aboard the tanker, Ampol Sorel,
before being picked up by fellow competitor, Atara, owned by John
Storey. Atara’s crew did all the right things as they headed to Eden and
Quinn was able to walk off the yacht unaided.

Quinn sold MEM and she now lives a more sedate life racing on the River
Derwent. Quinn returned to ocean racing and the Sydney Hobart, despite
his ordeal, but has now retired from the sport and lives of Hobart.

(Algarrobo, Chile)- One-design sailing continues to grow quite
dramatically in the Southern Hemisphere. It's a result of the efforts
of numerous sailors and sailing clubs in the region that see sailing as a
family activity. In general, the local sailing community continues to
grow and foster development both at the beginner levels in Optimist
sailing as well as in more advanced levels of offshore keelboats.

A testimonial to that development evolution is the growth of the J/105
fleet in Chile over the last two years. There is no question the
Chileans have some magnificent sailing areas both on the Pacific Ocean
as well as in the many bays and island archipelagos in the southern
parts of their gorgeous country.

With
nineteen boats on the starting line, the 2012 Chilean J/105 Nationals
were sailed this weekend in a wide variety of conditions that challenged
the sailors during the six races sailed. On the first day, the J/105
teams experienced nice steady 10-12 kts Southwest winds, enabling the
PRO to run three races. On Sunday, the wind shifted into the Northwest
and got lighter during the day with winds ranging from 5-10 kts, the
fleet again enjoyed three good races.

Most of the boats sailing had family crew onboard, including lots of
women and kids as crew. In fact, several boats had husband/wife
combinations and a few even "engaged couples"! The camaraderie amongst
the sailors was evident as all had a lot of fun both on and off the
water.

The racing was very very close for the fleet with both 1st and 2nd and
3rd and 4th determined by tie-breakers! Finishing first was TRICALMA
sailed by Daniel Gonzalez, the J/105 Chile Class President. Second was
RECLUTA III sailed by Miguel Perez, also with 15 pts. Third on the
podium was BIG BOOTY sailed
by Miguel Salas and losing the tie-breaker at 17 pts was Patricio
Seguel's GRAND SLAM, taking 4th overall. Rounding out the top five was
Sergio Baesa's family team with 21 pts-- in fact they had perhaps the
most family on one boat, Sergio Baesa father & son, Sergio Jr's
wife, daughter and two friends! Their hull #173 was the first J/105
brought into Chile fifteen years ago! Today, there are now 24 J/105s in
Chile, most in the Algarrobo/Valparaiso sailing harbors.

The next event for the J/105 Chile fleet is the "Bio Bio Circuit" at the
end of January 2013. For those of you familiar with the disastrous
earthquake/tsunami that hit almost 3 years ago on Feb 27 2010, they will
be sailing at "Zone Zero", the waters over the epicenter of that
massive earthquake! Oh, and here's the photo of the the sneak attack by
the J/70 on the 105 fleet loaded with pirates!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

(Tortola, BVI)- Joe Reed sailed his J/42 KEEP IT SIMPLE from Hampton, Virginia
to Roadtown, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands in this year's
Caribbean 1500 Rally. Here's his report on their experience with
Hurricane Sandy and the Atlantic crossing below:

"I left Annapolis aboard Keep It Simple, my J-42 sailboat, 5 weeks ago
today on this great Adventure. Don, Lee and I departed Annapolis around
5:30am headed for Hampton, VA with Hurricane Sandy headed for the East
Coast. We had heavy rain with the wind from the north and following
seas. We did not install the companion-way board and both the crew and
the boat got really wet.

We arrived in Hampton around 1:00 pm and there was no one staffing the
marina and the floating dock were disconnected from the seawall in
preparation for very high tides. We tied up at the fuel dock and
weathered Hurricane Sandy out there. Then on Wednesday we moved over to
our assigned slip.

Joel arrived on Thursday and we started final preparations for the
Caribbean 1500. Friday we heard that a big Low was forecast to start
forming on Monday as we were crossing the Gulf Stream that could make
things a bit dicey. At the Saturday, 1:00 pm skipper’s briefing, we were
told of the forecast and the Tortola group was told they could leave as
soon as they were ready and the rally would use a rolling start or we
could wait until Thursday. The Bahamas group was told to take the ICW
(intra-coastal waterway) down to Buford, NC and depart from there.

We got back to the boat finished our preparations and were away from the
Dock by 5:30 pm Saturday Nov. 3. We crossed the starting line at 7:05
pm. Wind was out of the Northeast at around 18 kts. Sometime Saturday
evening we put in the 1st reef and it was never removed the entire trip.

Almost the entire rally the wind was coming over the port quarter from
the NE from 18 to 26 kts. We were able to maintain around 7.5 kts with
either, main with 1st reef only, main with 1st reef plus Jib with 2nd
reef, main with 1st reef plus full jib, or motoring. We lost the middle
batten so we could not set the second reef in main since it would risk
damage to the main.

Don was surprised that we were on the same point of sail for almost the
entire trip. We only had a need for one "all hands on deck" call which
was around 1:00 am when the wind started climbing and there were gales
in the area. Everyone was up, life-vest & harnesses on, on deck,
sails down and secure in less that 10 minutes with it blowing over 40
kts. I went forward to get the sail down and Joel assisted in getting
the sail ties on, in heavy seas with the boat bouncing around.

The day before we were to cross the finish line, I installed the
Caribbean navigations chart card in the navigation display and got
nothing. We broke out the paper charts and the iPad to review our
approach to Tortola. I set a center channel waypoint into the display
and had Don become familiar with the chart since he would have the
midnight watch when we should cross the finish.

At midnight Nov. 12 I took the helm and the entire crew was up. The wind
started to get light as we approached Tortola. After one boat passed us
motoring I decide that we would motor the last few miles. We crossed
the finish line at 1:24 AST, 8 day 5 hours and 44 min. During this
entire time we only used the engine for propulsion for 22.2 hours.

When we arrived at Nanny Cay, Tortola around 3:30 am, the rally staff
was on the dock and handed us a drink after the boat was tied up. We
spent a few days in Nanny Cay, cleaning the boat up, making repairs and
resting. For the 2012 Caribbean 1500 Rally, our great little yacht, the
J/42 KEEP IT SIMPLE came in 1st in Class B and 1st overall! For more Carib 1500 sailing information.

(Newport, RI)- Class development is accelerating dramatically around the world. In the USA alone, there are over a dozen J/70 fleets that have formed already
with nearly twice that amount in the formative process across America.

The J/70
Regatta schedule has expanded considerably, here's a short-list of
what's happening in the 70 world for 2013.

More
regattas are coming on-line all the time. Teams out West are working
out the PCC's and SoCal Championships. J/70 owners in Texas/Gulf Coast
are forming a Texas Circuit rolling between Forth Worth, Austin,
Houston. In the Midwest (Chicago, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio) teams are
forming their circuit plans, too. The European 70 teams were discussing
at the Paris Show and soon the London Boat show plans for the J/70
European Circuit. In Europe, fleets are developing in the United
Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Austria, Switzerland,
Italy and Germany. South America also has boats and fleets are in
development in Chile, Argentina, and Peru. Also in the Southern
Hemisphere, it looks like J/70s may become popular in Sydney, Australia
and even in Perth-- can you imagine a J/70 flying home downwind in the
"Freemantle Doctor"!? That would be insanely fun.

Monday, December 17, 2012

(Boston, MA)- Recently, SAIL Magazine's panel of sailing experts
reviewed a large cross-section of "performance" sailboats in the 30 foot
and under size range. After a thorough evaluation of all the boats,
the SAIL Best Boat expert panel chose the J/70 as the "Best Boat" in the "Performance Category" (30 ft & under).

Here
are some comments from them, "..the trailerable J/70 is a simple,
nimble sport boat that's rapidly growing into one of the most impressive
one-design classes afloat." And furthermore, "expect big things from
this 22 footer as fleets take root and blossom-- the same as with its
24-foot cousin (the J/24) back in the 1970s." Click on the photo to
read more about it.

The Perfect Gift For People Who Love Sailing!
(Newport, RI)- For 2013 we've created another beautiful calendar for J
sailors who love the joys of sailing a J in some of the most spectacular
harbors and waters of the world. Whether you are a cruising, racing or
armchair sailor, these stunning sailboat photographs will transport you
to wonderful sailing experiences in far away places. The 2013 sailing calendar features photos (pictured here)
of a dramatic J/111 powering upwind off Newport; a fleet of J/24s off
sunny Tampa; surrealistic scenes of J/80s off Santander, Spain and
flying downwind off Marseilles, France; a fleet of J/120s rocking
downwind under spinnakers on San Francisco Bay; J/70s flying along under
spinnakers; J/22s starting in the Rocky Mountains; and a J/97, J/109
and J/122 sailing in sunny Solent conditions. A great gift for loved
ones, family, friends and crew! Order your 2013 J/Calendar today, click here

Friday, December 14, 2012

(Santa Barbara, CA)- J70 fleets are growing fast on the West Coast- a recent report regards a new J/70 owner's experiences in the Santa Barbara YC Holiday Regatta:

"It was a slow, wet two days for the Santa Barbara YC Holiday Regatta.
Nonetheless, it was fun watching Mike Drammer and Eli Parker's new J-70
ROXIE'S ROCKET compete. They won their first regatta in the PHRF B
fleet! Saturday's crew included Mike, Eric Stokke and Ken Kieding. We're
looking forward to seeing more in 2013 from a new and growing J-70
fleet locally!" They're pictured here looking focused, going fast and
having fun on their practice day!

(Coporito, Mexico)- The Mexican J/24 Class continues to build on it
strength and momentum with fleets continuing to improve and get strong
in both Valle de Bravo as well as in Puerto Vallarta. Other fleets
continue to develop nicely. Coporito recently did a fabulous job of
hosting the 2012 Mexican J/24 Nationals.

The weather was less than cooperative with only six races of at least
eight that were scheduled for the event. But, sailors are sailors-- the
fleet still managed to have great fun!

Weather conditions were changing all the time. The first day of
competition started with 5-8 knots, then the wind died completely and
then re-started again with little velocity. As a result a second race
was held but, unfortunately for most fleet, the wind died again before
most boats could make to the finish line before the time limit.

The second day the wind began to blow a little early and the first race
was held again with light winds of 5-7 knots. Then like what happened on
Friday, the wind died for about an hour before returning with gusts of 8
at 11 knots with rain.

On Sunday the racing began an hour earlier and the first race was again
run in light winds of 4-7 knots and the last race was run in rain! In
summary, it was fun sailing despite the challenging conditions. A great
turnout for the Mexican J/24 fleet and a special "Congratulations" to
the "Good Vibes" team for showing great consistency in widely varying
conditions-- winning 4 of 6 races!

Congratulations to Team GOOD VIBES- Jorge Murrieta, Julian Fernandez,
Diego Fernandez, Jorge Ogarrio Ander Belausteguigoitia- for being
crowned the 2012 Mexican J/24 Champions! Second place went to VENDETTA
sailed by Mario Velasquez, with Margarita Pazos, Mario Velasquez Jr, and
Walter Porter. Third overall went to a family team on BESANGA sailed
by Jerome, Diego, Paul, Philip and Gloria Cervantes. Fourth spot went to
a familiar name often at the top of the leader-board- Ken Porter on
COMEX. And, finally in fifth was Javier Velasquez and crew. For more Mexican J/24 Nationals sailing information

Thursday, December 13, 2012

(Casco Bay, Maine) - We received a rather amusing note from John Denman recently, he's a J/24 sailor on Casco Bay, Maine. John had this to say about a recent J/24 sailing experience in a Maine regatta this fall:

"In the 'Photos of the Week' section in Scuttlebutt last Friday, we'd
like to say thanks for including the J/24 photo sequence from the
Downeast Regatta on Casco Bay, ME. We were the beneficiary of that late
gybe broach; I was driving #2109 and we were just yards from the finish
line when "Mr. Hankey" was kind enough to take a detour and let us past.
They are very generous up there in Maine--- with a great Clambake
dinner, free beer and drinks, and letting the visitors pass right before
the finish line!!

By the way, the gusts to 30+ knots on Hussey Sound in Falmouth, Maine
led to this unplanned jibe (and swim)." Thanks John! Sailing Photos by
Ann Blanchard.

(Seattle, WA)- The Vashon Island Race is full of legends and incredibly amusing stories, some good, some
not so good. For example, one year some
sailors got banned from the clubhouse, another year the entire fleet sailed the wrong
way around the island and then there was a time you couldn’t see your competitors
through the snow (nor could the race committee!).

Winter Vashon, the annual 30.7nm race that kicks off the South Sound
Series, has often been renown for providing the sailors grey, wet and windy conditions as enormous fronts blow down from the Gulf of Alaska and provide the Seattle area with their notorious wet, grey weather. This year was a bit different and the relatively warm, benign conditions were enthusiastically welcomed by the sailors.

As she has done many times before, leading all the J's home was the J/160 JAM sailed by John McPhail,
sailing the race in a reasonably fast elapsed time of 4:14:05. The
result of their herculean efforts was first prize for Class 2 amongst
all the big boats!

In Class 4, the J/120 HINZITE sailed by James and Charles Hinz managed
to snag second in class with an elapsed time of 4:41:24, about a half
hour behind the speeding J/160.

The
J/35s and J/109s comprised most of Class 6 and managed to take 6 of the
top 7 spots! Leading the J's home was the J/35 GREAT WHITE sailed by
Dan Wierman with a 2nd in class. Third was the J/109 TANTIVY sailed by
Stuart Brunell. Fourth and fifth, respectively, were two J/35s, GRACE E
skippered by Brian White and MELANGE sailed by Jerry McKay and V
Beyehe.

The J/105 DULCINEA helmed by Matthew Gardner-Brown won her Class 7 by the narrowest of margins, 8 seconds!

(Lecco, Italy)- The Italian J/24 National Circuit concluded recently
with the final stage in their series determining the winner at the
Trophy Credito Valtellinese hosted the by Societa Canottieri Lecco. The
great yacht "KONG EASYNET GRIFONE" sailed by Marco Stefanoni, Fabio
Mazzoni, Massimo Consonni, Roberto Santomanco and Giusi Riva won the
XXXVIII edition of the Winter Championship.

They
took the lead on the second day of racing and never looked back,
accumulating a scoreline of 2-2-1-4-5-1-4-6-5-1 for 20 pts net. Joining
them on the podium was JAMAICA sailed by Gianluca Caridi, Ginesi
Fabrizio, Giuseppe Garofalo and Paul Governato who sailed a very strong
series but after losing the lead on the second day could never gain it
back. Their record of 4-3-4-1-1-14-1-5-5-8 for 24 pts was good enough
for second place. Lying third was JJ EXTRALARGE sailed by Roberto
Spata, Robert Martignoni, Michele Malandra, Andrea and Stefano Zamboni
Carnelli. They had a great comeback on Saturday and Sunday but not
enough to overcome the other leaders with their record of
8-7-2-5-4-3-3-1-3-7 for 28 pts net.

The opening day of racing saw the "breva" wind (local wind from the
south) around 6-7 kts, providing the fleet with two good races that
didn't complete until sunset! After all, this is what you must do when
sailing high in the Italian Alps!

On the following day, the crews started in the early morning to take
advantage of the "tivano" wind (typical wind from the north of the
lake). However, despite starting twice in these conditions, the sudden
drop in the wind forced the race PRO's to postpone racing until the
afternoon "breva" wind would show up to complete two races very late in
the day.

For Saturday's racing, the decision was made to start even earlier in
the impetuous "tivano" winds, sailing from 0800 hrs to 1300 hrs! It
resulted in getting in four races in 5-8 kts of wind and was a good test
for the sailors.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

(Charleston, SC)- This Holiday season, surprise that sailing fanatic who
already has everything with a gift they're sure to love, a custom
handmade J/24 sail print. Each 18"x24" J/24 print is screen-printed on
recycled sail cloth and is hand-signed and numbered by the artist (and
avid sailor)- Chad Covert. Made locally in Charleston, SC, this print
makes a wonderful gift—but hurry, as these are limited-run prints.
Customize the print with your very own sail numbers for a small charge.
Each print retails for $80.00. Please order at- http://www.etsy.com/shop/BattenCreative

(Lago San Roque, Cordoba, Argentina)-- High in the Argentinean side of
the Andes along its western borders their lies a simply spectacular lake
set into the foothills of the Andes Mountain range. In winter (the
northern hemisphere summer) many Olympic ski teams from around the world
head south to the famous town of Bariloche and places nearby to
continue their year-round downhill ski-training programs. While
Argentinean sailors can often be found on the slopes themselves, they
look forward to their spring-time sailing on simply spectacular lakes at
the base of the Andes Mountains in quaint mountain village towns like
Cordoba's Lago San Roque (http://goo.gl/maps/nnJGy) or San Carlos de
Bariloche's Lago Nahuel Huapi (http://goo.gl/maps/vxM58). It's a bit
like the South American version of Italy's famous Lago di Garda in
Italy's northern region bordering the southern reaches of the Austrian/
Swiss/ Italian Alps.

Recently, the J/24 fleet in Cordoba held their Spring Cup and had a
solid turnout of sixteen boats to experience the rather chilly waters,
amazing winds and spectacular vistas of Lago San Roque-- at least that's
what the local Chamber of Commerce usually predicts for this time of
year.

On
the first weekend of racing the fleet was confronted with not too much
wind. In fact, it was uncharacteristically light for this time of year
when the fronts are still raging around the South Pole and often the
northern fingers hit the Andes and produce some monstrous winds.
Nevertheless, the RC managed to run three races with much effort,
despite the wind at times blowing in from the Northeast, dying and then
returning back again from the East.
The first race went to the ONLINE Team sailed by Adrian Bongioanni at
the helm with his brother Saul on the sheets. Second went to CALEUCHE
sailed by Matías Arrambide, Gringo Betendorf and Pedrito Lozada. Third
went to Team CAMBURY skippered by Alvaro Abate.

In the second race, SAMA skippered by Frank Pesci, Mariana Buteler in
the bow, Ezekiel Despontin in sheets and Carlos took the lead from the
start to cross the line first! They were followed closely by J-MAC
sailed by Spoceti Gabriel, his son Paul, Adrian Berelejis on the sheets
and Marcelo Romero at the helm.

The third and final race of the regatta went to ONLINE in first, with
SAMA in second. At the end, ONLINE's 1-3-1 for 5 pts total meant the
Bongioanni brothers were crowned Spring Cup Champions in Cordoba!
Second was Team SAMA with a 5-1-2 for 8 pts for Frank Pesci and crew.
Rounding out the podium ws J-MAC's team led by Spoceti Gabriel with a
7-2-6 for 15 pts. The balance of the top five was CALEUCHE winning a
tie-breaker with a 2-5-10 for 17 pts over CLICK with a 6-3-8 for 17
pts. If you're ever in Buenos Aires, be sure to take a trip out West to
Cordoba and volunteer to crew on a J/24 in this spectacular setting!

J/24
sailboats are also racing on Lago "Nahuel Huapi" in the foothills of
the Andes Mountains, quite a bit further south of Cordoba and next to
the famous Andes ski areas WSW of San Carlos de Bariloche. Take a look at this YouTube video of a regatta from Cumelen Bay on the NE shore of the lake to Piedras Blancas near San Carlos de Bariloche.